Odd things are going on at the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia.
Widely available data, existing in the public view for years, is now disappearing from public view.
For example this link to Keith Briffa’s Yamal data:
http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/people/briffa/yamal2009/
Now redirects to a generic page of UEA. Try it yourself.
Now here is what that page says:
Climatic Research Unit
Due to the present high volume of visitors to this page, you will shortly be directed to the latest news about CRU on the main University of East Anglia website, or you can go there immediately by clicking on this link.
The cached page at Google is still available here, though none of the links to data or papers works there either.
I’ll point out that if indeed “traffic” is a concern, redirecting to another page on the UEA server system doesn’t do much for the load, it just moves it around. The data files are mostly text, and not that large, they don’t have that much more impact that some wab pages with graphics.
The news page that you get redirected to hasn’t much to say, and has not been updated since December 3rd.
And it’s not just subfolders with data, it is the entire Climate Research Unit website that is shielded from public view. Try the main link which has been functional for years:
In the last press release issued by UEA we read:
Professor Edward Acton, Vice-Chancellor said: “The reputation and integrity of UEA is of the upmost importance to us all.
So now apparently, in this newly pledged period of “openness and transparency”, with the promise of releasing new data access, such as the Met office has done here:
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climatechange/science/monitoring/subsets.html
The access to important CRU data is simply denied?
That’s a hell of a way to build public trust.
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Redirect is also true for the root url: http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/
so not connected to Briffa alone
REPLY: that’s in the article in case you didn’t notice. -A
These people are just amazing. Their actions scream “Fraud! Fraud! For your own good, don’t believe a word we say!”
Big attack on Svensmark and the papers of Prof.Eigil Friis-Christensen in UKs ‘The Times’ newspaper today. Pages 1,8 and 9.
Ah yes, trusting in public officials… Ask the former Duke University Lacrosse team how that works out…
With the amount of public scrutiny now focused on CRU, wiping the web site is a bit odd – especially with a statement about traffic.
A few days will tell maybe? We’ll see.
Isn’t it possible that they are having server problems and/or have decided to start temporarily removing some of the finished products that are under investigation?
REPLY: This isn’t like a CSI crime scene where the evidence can be “contaminated” by the public. Unless their web security is completely bollocks, files on the server can’t be modified. There’s no threat to the investigation by leaving public files up. But from a public relations standpoint there’s everything to lose by shutting down access. – A
Interesting note in the CRU Statements:
“Sir Muir Russell to head the Independent Review into the allegations against the Climatic Research Unit (CRU)”
The interesting part is in the “Notes to Editors” section.
Looks like the emails and sundries were first leaked to RealClimate?
What’s up with that?
This looks like it may be a default load handling page to me. Perhaps they have crashed their web servers.
We have similar, come through a load balancer on a public IP to several servers depending on response times its directed to the least used one.
When you hit a threshold of use or the web servers fail we serve a static page that comes from the same public domain but actually comes from a different server.
Not a great way to set things up and handle excessive load but I’ve seen it done before.
Has anyone else already saved this data from the CRU website in the past or is it now lost to us until such times as they deign to release it agIn?
There is an other potential explanation: They no longer have faith in the data, so they have removed it.
Urgh, “was downloaded on the RealClimate website”
Surely
… “was downloaded from”
or
… “was uploaded to”
or
… “was placed on”
Anthony it’s not just the public locked out. A couple of days ago I saw on Climate Audit where Dr. Curry was discussing something with one of the posters there and went to the CRU site for a graph and she couldn’t get in. When other Climatologists can’t get into a system that they were allowed in before thats makes it bigger then just pulling public access to public areas.
A possiblilty is that the servers are being locked up by the Police/Scotland Yard since they have two investigations ongoing. The first is the investigation of how the material leaked and then there is the investigation into the charges brought by Lord Monckton about FOIA violation.
Have the police impounded their servers and data?
The Climate Illuminati at work. So what. Truth will prevail and this will be to the disadvantage of UEA and the students. Given the Met Office list is real, the reputation of the environmental faculties of the whole Kingdom will be toast. They play a dangerous game.
I guess time will tell, but me thinks that maybe all servers containing web sites related to mmgw migh be getting a thorough thrashing of late!
I noticed that climatedebatedaily was down for a fair few hours yesterday as well………
I might spend the next few hours snooping around the cru site to see how many othe pages refuse to serve up and report back….
My general rule of thumb …
“Never put an action down to nefarious activity when simple incompetence could easily explain it”
If you use their search engine all sorts of links are failing, some work, some don’t. There is probably someone with a “webservers for dummies” book scratching his head right now.
The coverup garners more prison time than the crime. I just hope these jokers get a day in court.
The New Zealand example, and the antartic examples are the reasons why.
They have realised that having people check their data is very risky. After all people might find out that its a sham. Can’t have that can we.
Nick
RE: Rocky
Yes, this could quite possibly be a load balanced server problem. I don’t think even the CRU could be quite that ham-handed if their intent was to hide previously published data.
Ruh Roh !!
If they delete it, it never existed??
This could get even better !!!!
The reputation and integrity of UEA is of the upmost importance to us all. — This is from Piltdown U.
“REPLY: This isn’t like a CSI crime scene where the evidence can be “contaminated” by the public. Unless their web security is completely bollocks, files on the server can’t be modified. There’s no threat to the investigation by leaving public files up. But from a public relations standpoint there’s everything to lose by shutting down access. – A”
I didn’t mean that the information was vulnerable during an investigation.
I meant that they might have decided to remove information until the investigation determines that it’s something that the university should stand behind.
This is what I’m trying to have universities throughout the world do. They should remove information (hockey sticks, etc.) while such items are being investigated.
For example, if the Penn State’s investigation of Mann determines that his hockey stick isn’t something they will endorse, then how can universities throughout the world justify haven’t kept the information on their serves while it was being investigated? Shouldn’t the risk adverse universities start thinking about their reputations now?
The mist is rising to reveal the deceptions, …… http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/17916
I had used the whole Briffa affair to show the pupils at the school I teach literature at to dismiss their fears of dying in city swollowing ocean rises. Their response was a sense of relief that they were not going to die! I was approached by other staff who attempted to tell me not to tell pupils anything that ran against the AGW policy! I explained that as we lived in a country that defended the right to free speech I would do not such thing.
When I offered to show him the information on your excellent site he refused to even look! He said he didn’t want to see the facts and I should be ashamed of myself. Hidden data means nothing when those educating our children are not even interested in looking for it!
Thankfully my pupils are now upsetting the science department with some very uncomfortable questions.
Keep up the fantastic work gents. Every time they try and twist and turn you are waiting with the truth to debunk their lies.
They might have fired some of their systems administrators, possibly for being the suspected leaker, and now their systems don’t work right.
Or somebody is just on holiday leave.
Or the Devil did it.